After visiting the Tower of Juche Idea, we headed over to another monument commemorating the foundation of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK). The WPK is the ruling party of North Korea and is headed by its General Secretary, Kim Jong-il. This particular monument was erected in 1995 to commemorate the WPK’s iron-fisted rule over North Korea for 50 long years. More on the monument from KCNA:

The grand monument consummates the great feats of the WPK which has created a world-famous model for the accomplishment of the socialist cause and paved a new path for the founding of the revolutionary party in the Juche era over last 60-odd years.

The monument consists of the 50m-towers which depict a hammer, sickle and writing-brush held by the worker, peasant and intellectual symbolic of the components of the WPK, a circular band on which the slogan “Long live the Workers’ Party of Korea which organizes and guides all victories for the Korean people!” is embossed and the foundation which means the long history of the Party. It is an edifice of the times which combines well the originality of the structure with the architectural art.

Carved in relief in the inside of the circular band are three large sculptures showing the historical root of the WPK, the might of the single-minded unity of the leader, party and masses and the fighting feature of the Korean people to carry out the human cause of independence.

The monument will shine long as a symbol of the glorious Workers’ Party of Korea.

Right.

When we arrived at the monument, a mass dance had just ended and groups of North Koreans were sitting in groups waiting to be dismissed by their supervisors.

More photos here.

More footage from our North Korea tour DVD. Here we are at the Mansudae Grand Monument to Kim Il-Sung, where we had to lay flowers and bow in unison. Or attempt to bow in unison, anyways. We kinda screwed it up, as you can see.

When our tour group arrived in North Korea, I was a bit surprised to learn that in addition to our driver and three guides/minders, we would be accompanied by a cameraman who would be filming our entire trip. At first I thought this was for propaganda purposes (“Tune in tonight at 7pm, dear comrades, to see footage of American Imperialist bowing before the “Great Leader”!) but the actual reason was much less sinister. On our last night in Pyongyang the cameraman showed us some of the footage he shot and informed us that we could purchase DVDs. Of course, I had to buy one. Where else but North Korea do you get a DVD of your entire trip, complete with the government approved narrative and incredibly cheesy music?

After much trial and error (was having a bit of trouble with the audio track), I finally managed to rip the DVD and cut some footage from it. For those of you who have complained that I’m a biased westerner (yes, I’ve already received e-mails insinuating as much) I’m happy to bring a bit of balance to my narrative of the trip by presenting the North Korean version. Over the next few months I’ll be posting more footage from this DVD. The footage from the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)/Panmunjom is especially interesting.

This first clip is the intro to the DVD and footage from our visit to the Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang (which is basically just us taking lots of photos).

Designed by the Dear Leader himself, the Tower of Juche Idea was completed in 1982 to commemorate Kim Il-Sung’s 70th birthday. That’s quite a gift to present to your father for his birthday. By comparison, the books and t-shirts I send my dad now appear to be quite inadequate.

At a height of 557.7 feet, the Juche Tower surpasses the Washington Monument by a little over two feet. Honestly, Juche Tower doesn’t appear to be taller than the Washington Monument, but if the North Koreans say it is, it must be so. They would never lie about something as inconsequential as their monument being taller than a U.S. Imperialist monument, right? Right.

The Juche Idea, which the tower takes its name from, is the official state ideology of North Korea:

The regime emphasizes Juche [Juché, Chuch’e], a national ideology of self-reliance. The regime justifies its dictatorship with arguments derived from concepts of collective consciousness and the superiority of the collective over the individual, appeals to nationalism, and citations of “the juche idea.” The authorities emphasize that the core concept of juche is “the ability to act independently without regard to outside interference.” Originally described as “a creative application of Marxism-Leninism” in the national context, juche is a malleable philosophy reinterpreted from time to time by the regime as its ideological needs change and used by the regime as a “spiritual” underpinning for its rule.

Plaques donated by Juche study groups and regime supporters throughout the world. Yes, there was even one from the United States.

The Juche Tower is topped with a tacky red flame sculpture that glows a bright reddish orange color at night until it is shut off.

For the sum of five euros you can take an elevator to the top of tower for an amazing 360 degree view of Pyongyang. When we got to the top of the tower, a member of our group jokingly asked the tower’s tour guide if anyone had ever fallen off. “No!” she replied, with a confused look on her face. “Why would you even ask such a question?!”

Ryugyong Hotel and Kim Il-Sung Square.

Mass dance being held below

May Day Stadium where the Arirang Festival Mass Games are held.

Ryugyong Hotel

North Koreans paddleboating on the Taedong River

Our island hotel

Statue of a worker, peasant, and intellectual. Quite similar to Vera Mukhina’s “Worker and Kolkhoz Woman” statue in Moscow.

Locals watching the mass dance.

More photos here.

Following an evening of Mass Games, drinking North Korean beer, and exploring our bizarre hotel, we were up bright and early for our first full day of touring Pyongyang. The first stop on our itinerary was the obligatory visit to the Mansudae Grand Monument, a 65 foot bronze statue of the “Great Leader” Kim Il-Sung. Of all things you will do in North Korea, visiting this monument is perhaps one of the most controversial. While planning a trip North Korea, one must keep the following things in mind:

1. A visit to the Mansudae Grand Monument to Kim Il-Sung is obligatory. This is one of the holiest sites in Pyongyang, with thousands of North Koreans paying their respects to the Great Leader each day.

2. Your group is expected to purchase bouquets of flowers, lay them at the feet of Kim Il-Sung, and then bow in accordance with local customs.

3. When taking photos of the Great Leader, do nothing “cute” like mimicking his pose. Ensure that all photos contain the entire statue of the Great Leader. Do not take any photos that would crop the Great Leader (i.e., showing only his feet).

Since we had received all of this information in our tour packets, and it was further reinforced in the pre-tour briefing in Beijing, we were all well aware of how we were expected to act at the Grand Monument. Obviously, bowing to a statue of a ruthless dictator is not something you want to do, but if you are set on visiting North Korea, this bizarre gesture is a requirement that many simply accept as the price of admission.

The monument was erected in 1972 to celebrate Kim Il-Sung’s 60th birthday. Rumor has it that the statue was originally coated in gold, but this was removed on the insistence of the Chinese government, which was heavily subsidizing the regime.

Flowers in hand, we hopped off our tour bus and walked a short distance to the monument. Spread out before us was a vast open space with a huge bronze statue of Kim Il-Sung front and center and two large socialist-realism sculptures to the left and right of the statue. Music blared from large speakers as groups of soldiers, schoolchildren, and families lined up before the statue and solemnly bowed. Our guide pointed out a man carrying a large video camera. “He is from the news channel, and here to film you.” Oh great. Our visit was being turned into propaganda for the masses. I could just imagine the evening news anchor announcing: “And here are the U.S. Imperialists bowing before the Great Leader Kim Il-Sung…” Well, there goes my future political career.

He’s from the North Korean version of CNN.

Our guide led us to the front of the statue. Members of the group who had purchased flowers stepped forward and laid them at the feet of the Great Leader. Once they had returned and taken their place in line, we followed the lead of our guide and bowed. Compared to the North Koreans, who were bowing in perfect unison, we were all quite disorganized. Some members of our group had a long bow, some had a quick bow, others bowed twice. I’m sure the Koreans watching the news that evening got quite a laugh at the clumsy U.S. Imperialists. What can I say, we just aren’t accustomed to bowing before statues (or preserved corpses, as I will detail in a later entry).

Our obligation to the cult of personality fulfilled, we were then free to wander around the area and take an excessive amount of photos.

Unfortunately, no American pose here.

This kid has his own military uniform.

The rest of the photos can be found here.

There are a lot of monuments in Pyongyang, and as you soon learn, all revolve around the achievements of Kim Il-Sung. The first monument we visited was the Arch of Triumph. You probably think that this arch looks quite similar to that one in Paris, and you would be right, EXCEPT THIS ONE IS BIGGER AND TALLER! This “bigger and taller” obsession is something you become quite accustomed to when touring the DPRK, as there are plenty of buildings and monuments around Pyongyang that were built to shatter world records while simultaneously devouring a significant amount of the country’s GDP.

As for the history behind the Arch of Triumph, I found this Korean Central News Agency (the DPRK’s state news agency) article which perfectly summarizes its significance:

The stone monument was unveiled in April of Juche 71 (1982) in reflection of the deep desire of the whole Korean people to convey to the posterity the revolutionary feats of President Kim Il Sung, who had successfully achieved the historic cause of the liberation of the country and returned to Pyongyang in triumph.

The Arch of Triumph with 60m in height and 50.1m in facade width and 36.2m in side width has four stories. The first and second stories are separated with a balcony and the second, third and fourth stories have diminishing flat roofs.

The words of the revolutionary paean “Song of General Kim Il Sung” are carved in the middle of the arch. Also engraved there are Mt. Paektu, the ancestral mountain of Korea, and “Buglers of Guerilla Army”. Beneath them there are the words “1925″ and “1945″ reflecting the revolutionary history of the President shining along with the liberation of the country and sculptures on subsidiary themes are embossed.

The Arch of Triumph encourages the Korean people to the efforts to shine the immortal exploits of the President in the liberation of the country through generations and build at an early date a great, prosperous and powerful nation of Juche under the Songun revolutionary leadership of Kim Jong Il.

Right.